


The Atlas CEO

by charybdis_nerdrage



Series: Soul Searching [2]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Fast Friendship, Here we go, I've never played Borderlands 3, M/M, Male Friendship, Timothy meets Rhys, Trauma Buddies, no Borderlands 3 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22646728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charybdis_nerdrage/pseuds/charybdis_nerdrage
Summary: Timothy Lawrence is finally free, what does he do? He decides to follow his friends instructions and go to Promethea, where he is told someone can help him.
Relationships: Timothy Lawrence/Rhys
Series: Soul Searching [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629115
Kudos: 29





	The Atlas CEO

Timothy hadn’t lived free in over 7 years, but now that he was on a ship he could actually call his own, it was different. Tim had learned a lot over the past few days of space travel to Promethea. 

First: Cut down on the space protein bars or you  _ will  _ get sick.

Second: Learn how to set a course for your ship before falling asleep.

Both of those he had learned the hard way. But now that he had the course set for Promethea, and a slightly more varied diet, nothing could stop him. The ship itself was comfortable. It had a small cabin with a control console, a somewhat comfortable chair, and a small cot that folded up against the wall when it wasn’t in use. The cot was surprisingly comfortable when Tim got used to it, or maybe that was normal after 7 years of sleeping on the floor. The back wall was lined with shelves and drawers, some filled with food and rations that were actually pretty tasty. Tim was living comfortably, even the view of the stars started to look beautiful again.

After multiple days of flying, Tim woke up to the view of Promethea in his window. His eyes widened.

Holy shit. That place looked gorgeous. The gorgeous planet was a perfect shade of crystal blue, with blotches of neon hidden in the atmosphere. The planet was surrounded by a large ring of rubble and rock, it was easy to pass through. Before Timothy knew it, he was already beginning to enter the atmosphere. He picked up his echo and typed in the code number for Atlas’ public line so he could request entry.

The echo line picked up.

“This is Atlas, you’re speaking to Promethean Security. Would you like to request an entry to Promethea?” The woman on the other end of the line said. Timothy cleared his throat.

“Yes please, I’m an ex-hyperion Doppelganger in need of temporary refuge.” Timothy explained, trying his best to sound the least like Jack he could. He brought his tone down slightly, so he wouldn’t sound as boastful on his end of the line.

“Ex-Hyperion… Doppelganger…” The woman drawled, supposedly writing it down. “A Handsome Jack doppelganger?”

“Yes. My name is Timothy Lawrence, my name is not in any system sadly, that’s all on Helios.” Tim clarified.

“Good to know. Okay, we’re letting you in, but you need to be escorted to the CEO and state your business.” The woman explained.

“Alright, I’m in the Hyperion Cruiser.” 

“Just head to these coordinates, I’m linking them to your echo.” 

The call ended, and sure enough, the location lit up on Timothy’s echo. He forwarded it to the map and set a course for the spot. He sat down in the captain’s chair in front of the main console, steering down below into the atmosphere.

Promethea got more gorgeous the closer and closer he got to it, truthfully. He could see the gorgeous towers, all lit up in green and pink lights. As he got closer to the destination, he could see the Atlas branding scattered across the distant towers. Eventually Tim landed on a large docking bay. He shut off his ship, stowed the key in his pocket, then flipped up his hood over his face, at least to temporarily hide it. He could see the Atlas security walk up to his ship, and when Tim stepped out he was greeted by 3 very intimidating men completely hidden in red armor.

“Follow,” One of them instructed, and Timothy did as he was told. He followed the man, the other two on his back. They went into the building, and what looked like the tallest tower in the surrounding city. He was brought down the hall and to a large, imposing door. The door opened, and Tim was greeted with yet another big office.

The double tried to hunch his shoulders slightly, tucking his hands safely into his pocket, as to make himself smaller. He didn’t want to be easily compared to Jack.

The Atlas CEO was… quite honestly really pretty. Tim wouldn’t admit it to his face. He was tall, and dressed in shades of red and blue, an Atlas brand vest over everything. He was pretty lowkey compared to his previous boss, or maybe that was because of the extreme lack of an egotistical aura around the man. 

When the CEO turned to Tim, he was given a dirty glare. 

“I’d love to hear the reason why an actor for a dead man is seeking refuge with Atlas.” The CEO started. “Enlighten me, I’m curious.” 

Tim gulped. “Well, I was stuck on the Handsome Jackpot Casino for 7 years. I was told to come here by some friends.” 

“Who were those friends?” The man asked.

“Zane Flynt and Fl4k.” Timothy answered plainly. “They helped me get off, they gave me a ship, along with directions to Promethea. They said they knew someone here that could help me.” 

The CEO’s eyes widened slightly.

“Damnit, they’re talking about me.” He grumbled, walking closer to Tim. He held out a hand for Tim to shake. “I’m Rhys Strongfork. I want to go on the record and say I  _ really  _ don’t trust a guy that willingly got his face molded to look like a madman. But, I owe those guys a favor.” Tim pulled his synthetic hand out of his pocket and shook Rhys’ hand hesitantly.

“Well,” Tim began. “I need a replacement hand. This thing is basically another Hyperion branding, and I want it gone.” Rhys nodded, taking mental note of the requests. “And I’d like new clothes, something that isn’t stolen. I’d also appreciate a new paint color on my ship, I want anything Hyperion out of my life.”    
  


“Mhmm you and me both.” Rhys chuckled. “Fine, I can get you all those things in a couple weeks. But only because I owe those vault hunters a favor.” 

Timothy had agreed to everything. As long as everything was taken care of, he’d be okay. Rhys clearly didn’t trust him though, Zane and Flak were his only real saving grace in this, or else he knew he wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in Rhys’ presence. 

-

The first day was simple enough, or at least what he remembered of it. Most of it was just more surgery. The Winning hand was grafted completely to his limb, it was not detachable like most standard cybernetics were, so they had to go in and completely replace it from the inside out. The only thing Tim had done that morning was pick what hand he wanted. 

Timothy had picked a silver chrome hand, the most simple design he could get. The hand itself was a dark silver, with black outlines of a hexagon pattern painted over the metal. Tim liked it. It was lowkey enough, and it would be a good start in becoming his own person again. The rest of the day was spent in the hospital wing, and once the hand was attached, he knew he needed a few days to get used to it. They said they needed to run a few tests on it before it was approved for outside use. 

The tests were simple, he just had to do things with his hands. At least what they told him to do. After nearly the end of the cycle, he was done with his tests and approved to go out back to where he was staying.

Rhys had let him stay in a small room in the living quarters below. He was led to it by more Atlas personnel. The room was comfortable, a tiny dresser, a small twin bed, and a window overlooking the gorgeous city. Tim liked it. He was still exhausted from the entire day of testing and surgery, so he laid down on the way too comfortable bed and fell asleep.

-

The next day Tim was called up to Rhys’ office. It took some time for Tim to find it, but eventually he found those intimidating doors. He stepped through and was greeted by Rhys, who was at his desk.

“You called me?” Tim said, trying to get Rhys’ attention. It worked, and the other man looked up.

“Oh, yeah, I need you to figure out what you want your ship to be painted, we can digistruct it on.” Rhys said, gesturing to a monitor that he spun around, showing Tim’s current ship.

“Is any of my stuff gonna get messed with in the process?” Tim questioned. Rhys shook his head no.

Tim got to work. He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted his ship to look like, and he eventually settled on the same color scheme as his new Echo that Zane had gifted him. He made the Ship a maroon color, with silver undertones. When Tim had to name the ship, he thought back on the old books he used to read as a kid.

When he was a kid, he was obsessed with reading and writing, he practically preferred it over having actual friends. He read anything he could get his hands on cover to cover, sometimes in only a day. He had neglected that part of himself when he got older, and especially now. Maybe naming the ship after a book would be a good step in getting comfortable with himself?

He typed in the name of the ship. 

_ The Odyssey. _

Holy shit he was such a nerd.

The rest of the day went by easily, he was told to get some new clothes after he was done repainting his ship. He got a maroon sweater and a complimentary dark green Jacket to go over it. He decided on keeping his current boots, but he switched to black pants. He bought a dark green scarf, along with silver tinted goggles. He would use those to hide his face when out and about. This was perfect. Rhys nodded simply, and ordered the digistructed clothes to Timothy’s room.

Timothy didn’t leave right away. In fact, he debated starting a conversation with the CEO, but Rhys beat him to it.

“Why did you do it? Why did you agree to work for Jack…?” Rhys asked.

“Oh?” Tim looked up at the man. “Well… the same reason everyone does, I think.” Timothy began. “I was a coward, and Jack wasn’t. I couldn’t get anywhere near women or men, but Jack could get anything he wanted. Even before he got the mask. I wanted to be somebody, I didn’t want to keep living the same life. Jack came to me with an offer to have all my debt wiped, to have everything about me to be changed, and I was self-loathing enough to take it.”

Rhys remained silent as Tim talked, just listening. Then he sighed heavily, breaking the tense silence.

“I’m afraid I get it.” Rhys said. “For years I was obsessed with the man, I wanted to be him. Then, he stabbed me in the back.” 

“Yeah, he does that.” Tim sympathized.

“I hate to say I’m glad someone can understand.” Rhys admitted. “I’ve lived with a lot of guilt for a little too long. I needed someone who would get it.” 

“Me too Rhys, me too.” Tim finished. “You can talk to me whenever you like, trust me, if it’s about Jack, I’ll understand.” 

“Alright.” Rhys nodded. “You’ll be staying here for a few more days, then you’re free to roam. What’s your plan?”

“Well, I have some old friends back in the Pandoran System. I wanted to go over and say hi, and hopefully I won’t get shot on sight.” Tim answered. Rhys nodded.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” 

“See you then,” Tim waved goodbye and walked out of the office. He made some serious progress with Rhys, maybe they were actually friends?

-

Today was the day that Timothy was leaving, and before he knew he was going, he knocked on the large doors to Rhys’ office. The CEO answered, greeting Tim with an awkward smile.

“Hey,” Rhys said.

“I’m leaving today, I just wanted to say goodbye before I head off to Pandora.” Tim explained. Rhys nodded.

“Come on in first, I have a few things for you.” Rhys led Timothy in, bringing him to his desk. He dug through his desk drawers until he pulled out what looked like a button. It had the Atlas Logo on it. “Look, I’d understand if you aren’t big on company branding, but this thing will look good on your Jacket. Plus, I like to think that Atlas is a pretty decent company.”

Tim took the pin and smiled. “Alright, I’ll make one exception here. Based solely on the fact that your company has not severely altered my physical appearance without my consent.” Rhys laughed at that, watching Tim stick the pin into his coat, just on his lapel. It fit comfortably in the space.

“Here’s one last thing,” Rhys said, picking up a pistol from the desk. “You need something else that isn't ancient. Here’s an Atlas pistol.” Rhys began. “It has two modes, one where you can put a target tracking bullet on an enemy, so that any normal round you fire will be tracked to that one enemy until it’s dead.” 

Tim was impressed. “Woah, that’s cool.” He tossed the pistol in his hand, admiring the lightness of the pistol.

“Yep, I designed her myself.” Rhys boasted. 

“Uh… can I have your echo contact number? In case I need any corporate favors?” Tim asked. Rhys agreed with that and Tim left the office with a goodbye, and Rhys’ contact now in his echo right next to Flak and Zane. He had made friends, and as he walked to his new ship he thought over everything that had happened.

He really was a new man already, everything felt so new. He felt confident in himself. The only thing really keeping him down was the broken mask still attached to his face. Maybe he would take care of that in the future, maybe not.

Either way, he needed to go to Pandora. He had an old friend he wanted to see again.

It was time to go back to Pandora.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the second (shorter) addition to my fic Dear Diary. There are gonna be a lot more shorter additions, honestly this'll probably just be a continued thing about Tim being happy with himself. I hope that's good.
> 
> My tumblr is @charybdis-nerdrage


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